Author: tamaramorning

Much Progress

Oops! It’s been a few weeks since I blogged about my progress on my goals. Work has kept me pretty busy during the week, but weekends (a.k.a. Friday and Saturday for me) have been productive. So, let’s see, what have I accomplished in the last two weeks?

Of my ten writing-related goals, I’ve worked on eight of them. Wow. I didn’t realize I’d accomplished quite so much. Yay! That makes me feel a lot better about the days I felt like I was slacking.

First and foremost, I finished the first draft of my NaNo 2007 story. I’m not entirely thrilled with it, and I think I dropped a few threads, but I uncovered the bones of the story at least. It topped out at 76, 243 words, which is by far the shortest thing I’ve completed.

I’ve done some work on the 2YN. It amazes me how well that story flies off my fingers. And Samantha is so effortless! It’s like she writes herself. I really love this story.

I’m semi-working on submitting Through Shadowed Stone. I found a novel exchange partner, so I’m hoping the new eyes will give me some fresh insight into what needs work.

I’ve also been editing Witches. Thanks to some hints from my wonderful crit group, I’ve done some polishing on the first two chapters. I’ve also done some work on Chapter Three, getting ready to throw it to the wolves (or post it, whichever phrasing you prefer).

I’ve done a bit for research for NaNo 2008. Basically, I’ve been looking for a mythical, human-like species to make my MC. No success yet. But I think I’ve come up with another story idea (which I’m hoarding right now until it’s through stewing).

I have the next chapter in the zombie story outlined (a detailed outline). More mayhem! I also briefly know what my next chapter is about, as well as my partner-in-crime’s next two chapters (lots more chaos and some funny stuff).

And finally, I wrote 8,506 new words, which puts me at 22,270 for the year. I’m woefully behind!

Wonderful Books

I’ve been reading some good books in the last week. Some I’ve read before, some I haven’t. All by authors I’m already familiar with. But still, enjoyable.

First off, I read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, by Douglas Adams. I love these books. I think they’re hilarious. I end up laughing out loud every time I read them. I’ve loaned them to family members and friends, and only one person I know has every actually managed to read them. Everyone else says they just couldn’t make sense of them. I wonder what it says about me that I like them so much?

Then I read Iron Kissed, by Patricia Briggs. This is the new one in the Mercy Thompson series. I like the world Briggs has created. It’s different than other takes I’ve seen on the werewolves/vampires/fey (Oh my!) theme, and it’s a refreshing change. Her characters are strong and well-developed, and she always throws such great problems at them. I’ve been wondering for the last two books about some of the choices I knew Mercy would have to make, and this book answered some of those questions. It also went into more detail about the fey, which I really liked. A really good read.

Last but not least, I read Duma Key by Stephen King. I wanted to start it Friday night, but I was home alone, and I’m too chicken to read King by myself at night. So I started it Saturday afternoon. And ended up staying up ’til one a.m. reading it. I really liked this one. I haven’t been quite so impressed with some of his last books, but this one I thoroughly enjoyed. He’s so mean to his characters! I loved the setting a lot. I have always loved the ocean, and King’s description made me feel like I was there (Heck, I wanted to be there. Except for the whole spooky-doll-lady-thing. Eh.) He inches the tension level up a teensy bit at a time, but by the end I was just as creeped out as the MC. This is a book I would highly recommend.

Week Four Progress

I’m a little late with my update post this week, but that’s due to working 13-hour days, and then being sick. That’s about par for the course for me, though.

Well, let’s see. I’ve added the scenes into the zombie chapter. There was a lot of action going on there, and according to my co-writer, I successfully kept up the tension level, so that’s good.

I finished a chapter on my NaNo 2007 story. Actually, I’ve realized that I need to go back in and add some things to this chapter, so I guess technically it’s not quite finished. Also, I’m planning on doing a lot of work on this story in the remainder of the week, and finishing up the first draft on Saturday at the latest. I was getting a little too distracted with trying to write this, the zombie story, and my 2YN, so I want to go ahead and finish this one, since it’s the closest to being done. I think there are only about four chapters left, so I should be able to get those done easily.

The only other goal I’ve worked on this week is my word count goal. I wrote 3,784 words this week, which puts me at 12,695 for the year (towards a goal of 250k).

Slow Reading Month

I have not actually done much reading this year, only ten books so far. But there has been a lot going on in real life, so I’m not overly worried about it. Besides, there are so many books coming out soon that I’m really looking forward to.

In addition to reading Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, I also read Through the Looking Glass. Is it wrong of me to prefer the cartoon version of Alice? And I kept getting flashes of what I think was a TV movie version of Looking Glass. Both were still enjoyable reads, though.

I read the anthology Over the Moon, with stories by Angela Knight, Mary Janice Davidson, Virginia Kantar, and Sunny. Enjoyable stories all. I have to say I preferred the Sunny story, but then I read Mona Lisa Awakening (although not the second book in the series yet), and really liked it. I was also impressed with the Davidson story, although this was the first of her vampire stories I’ve read. I do think I’ll be buying the books, though.

I read the Star Wars book The Joiner King by Troy Denning. I can’t help it, I’m a huge Star Wars fan, and I’ve enjoyed pretty much all of the books (Except for the ones where certain main characters died. Didn’t like those at all.) This one was no exception, and I intend to buy the remaining two books in the trilogy soon.

Lastly, I just finished House of Sand and Fog, by Andre Dubus III. I never saw the movie, so I have nothing to compare it to. I got attached to all the characters, even though I wanted to shake some of them and say “Hello! Wake up. You’re headed for disaster.” I was afraid there would be no way this book would end well. Sadly, I was right. I did think it was well-written, and the characters had very distinct voices, but the book just depressed me. I am a firm believer in happy endings (even if my own stories don’t always work out that way).

Week Three

Not much progress in week three, but I have a really, really good excuse. Really. I packed most of my house up this weekend, and moved from a four-bedroom, three-bath house to stay with my parents. Yeah. Not the greatest transition, but a workable solution. It’s the five cats that are less than impressed. Cian has been hiding under the cabinet since he got here, and I’ve only seen him once, at 4:30 this morning when I was the only one awake. Murray, who is normally laid-back and affectionate, has been growling at anything that moves. Salem hid under the bed and scratched me when I tried to get him out. Two Socks hisses at everyone (especially Mom’s two dogs). Boo is the only one behaving normally, and she’s pregnant, which is not wonderful.

Okay, so, really no progress to speak of on my writing goals in the past week. I haven’t written anything, not a single word, since the 13th. That’s almost unheard of for me. That zombie chapter is still pending (Tonight, maybe? Maybe.) I did get a crit done for one of my crit group, which puts me at only being three crits behind in the circle. Not too bad, since everyone apparently decided to post new chapters in the same week. I did get the second chapter of Witches posted, though, so I guess that’s progress. Hopefully I’ll have more to report next week.

Week Two of the New Year

It’s Tuesday, and time to update my progress on my writing goals. I have to hold myself accountable somewhere. So, out of the ten writing-related goals I set for myself this year, in the last week I’ve worked on five of them. Not great, but three of the others can’t be completed until I finish writing the stories involved, and one of them is NaNo, which has to wait until November. Not too bad, I guess.

I worked on the NaNo ’07 story twice this week. It’s coming along nicely. Almost through now, and the climax is looming on the horizon. Nerina and Cy will be back in Atlantis in the next chapter, to face the bad guys and the wrath of Poseidon.

I did some work on the zombie story. I only have about 2 ½ pages written, but I know what happens in the rest of the chapter. There will be much action and adrenaline, I just haven’t had time to write it yet!

I’ve edited several chapters in Witches. Unfortunately, they’re more like rough edits, and I need to go back and look over the chapters much more thoroughly and really think about some things. So, I have the first five chapters printed out to look at again.

I did another chapter on the 2YN story. I like where it’s at right now, and things are just about to take an upward swing. Samantha continues to surprise me. (What is my tomboy-tough character doing wearing a dress and flirting with a man to get what she wants? What? I don’t understand!)

And, I wrote a total of 5,998 new words this week, which brings my grand total for the year up to 8,911.

Books Read In 2007 (My Favorites)

After looking back over what I’ve read this year, I’d like to post some of my thoughts on some of these books and authors.

Favorite author I discovered this year: It’s a tie between Janet Evanovich, P.C. Cast., and Stephenie Meyer. I love the Stephanie Plum books! They had me rolling on the floor (Thank you, Teresa, for introducing me to them), and made me green with envy. I want to write hilarious characters like that! I discovered P.C. Cast at Conestoga, and I’m grateful I did. I enjoyed her Divine books, but I’m really loving the House of Night books she writes with her daughter. Also, the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. I cannot say enough good things about these books. I discovered them by accident, and devoured them. I can’t wait for the next one to come out!

Favorite books I haven’t read in years: The Anne of Green Gables series, by L.M. Montgomery. I’d forgotten how much I loved these books! And how much Anne’s lively imagination reminds me of myself. I actually hadn’t read the last two books in the series before, but I enjoyed them as well.

Favorite shorter work: I bought the e-book Muse by Lazette Gifford (of Forward Motion), and absolutely loved it. It was the first e-book I’ve ever bought, and I was skeptical at first. But this book cracked me up! I loved the setting, and the characters, especially the cats named after writers.

Favorite last-book-in-series: I know you think I’m going to say Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Well, I am. But Confessor, by Terry Goodkind, is also a tie. I love both of these series, and I thought both of the books were good endings.

Most overrated (to me) book: The Road, by Cormac McCarthy. Yeah, I know it won a bunch of accolades and awards, but frankly, I found it depressing and dissatisfying. Sorry. Good writing, but not a story I enjoyed.

Most disappointing book: Hands down, Rhett Butler’s People, by Daniel McCaig. I did not expect it be anywhere near as good as Gone with the Wind. But seriously? The Mitchell family should have let well enough alone. After the uproar over Scarlett, they should have learned their lesson. Leave the best alone. Don’t mess with the classics. Even good writing doesn’t make up for that.

Of course, these are all just my opinions. Take them for what they’re worth (which isn’t very much, and is about the same as anyone else’s is worth).

Books Read in 2007 (Part VI)

And here are the rest. Books 126-135.

LeGuin, Ursula K.: A Wizard of Earthsea (12/01/07)*

Ray, Kimberly: Your Coffin or Mine? (12/05/07)

LeGuin, Ursula K.: The Tombs of Atuan (12/07/07)

Diamant, Anita: The Red Tent (12/08/07)*

LeGuin, Ursula K.: The Farthest Shore (12/15/07)

Patterson, Kim; Liu, Marjorie M.; Sands, Lyndsay; Pettersson, Vicki: Holidays Are Hell (12/19/07)*

Mitchell, Margaret: Gone with the Wind (12/30/07)

Davidson, Mary Janice: Swimming Without a Net (12/30/07)*

Evanovich, Janet: Metro Girl (12/31/07)

Matheson, Richard: I Am Legend (12/31/07)*

Now, aren’t you glad I’m through boring you with everything I read last year?

Books Read In 2007 (Part V)

Books 101-125.

Freedman, Rory and Barnouin, Kim: Skinny Bitch (09/17/07)

Stewart, Mary: The Last Enchantment (09/19/07)

Harris: Charlaine: All Together Dead (09/24/07)

Stewart, Mary: The Wicked Day (10/04/07)

Cast, P.C. and Kristin: Betrayed (10/06/07)

Brigg, Patricia: Blood Bound (10/08/07)

Raye, Kimberly: Dead End Dating (10/10/07)*

Raye, Kimberly: Dead and Dateless (10/13/07)

Vaughn, Carrie: Kitty and the Midnight Hour (10/13/07)*

Gerritsen, Tess: The Bone Garden (10/14/07)

Vaughn, Carrie: Kitty Goes to Washington (10/17/07)

Vaughn, Carrie: Kitty Takes a Holiday (10/19/07)

Mulvany, Catherine: Something Wicked (10/20/07)*

Arthur, Kerri: Kissing Sin (10/27/07)

Chance, Karen: Touch the Dark (10/28/07)*

Chance, Karen: Touched by Shadows (11/01/07)

Cornwell, Patricia: Book of the Dead (11/02/07)

Russe, Savanah: Beneath the Skin (11/03/07)

McCaig, Daniel: Rhett Butler’s People (11/10/07)

Hamilton, Laurell K.: A Lick of Frost (11/12/07)

Goodkind, Terry: Confessor (11/22/07)

Frost, Jeanine: Halfway to the Grave (11/22/07)*

Britain, Kristen: The High King’s Tomb (11/26/07)

Sparks, Nicholas: A Bend in the Road (11/28/07)

McCarthy, Cormac: The Road (11/30/07)*

Books Read in 2007 (Part IV)

Books 76-100.

Kingsolver, Barbara: The Poisonwood Bible (07/12/07)

Rowling, J.K.: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (07/21/07)

Gaiman, Neil: Anansi Boys (07/22/07)

Rowen, Michelle: Fanged and Fabulous (07/24/07)*

Cast, P.C.: Divine by Mistake (07/26/07)*

Cast, P.C.: Divine by Choice (07/27/07)

Viehl, Lynn: Night Lost (07/30/07)

King, Stephen: Lisey’s Story (08/02/07)

Duane, Diane: Wizards at War (08/05/07)

Koontz, Dean: The Husband (08/07/07)

Hoyt, Elizabeth: The Raven Prince (08/07/07)

Forsyth, Kate: The Forbidden Land (08/11/07)

Forsyth, Kate: The Skull of the World (08/13/07)

Forsyth, Kate: The Fathomless Caves (08/15/07)

Stewart, Mary: The Crystal Cave (08/18/07)

Kinsella, Sophie: Can You Keep A Secret? (08/22/07)*

Stewart, Mary: The Hollow Hills (08/29/07)

Cast, P.C.: Divine by Blood (08/31/07)

Meyer, Stephenie: Twilight (09/01/07)*

Kinsella, Sophie: Confessions of a Shopaholic (09/02/07)

Cast, P.C.: Goddess of the Sea (09/02/07)

Richards, Susan: Chosen by a Horse (09/03/07)*

Cast, P.C. and Kristin: Marked (09/05/07)*

Meyer, Stephenie: New Moon (09/13/07)

Meyer, Stephenie: Eclipse (09/14/07)